Murder in "Utopia"

By: Bryan Perkins

Narrated by: Julie Hoverson

For this novella, my main goal was to produce a work that was at the same time absurdist and decidedly literary. I think I've succeeded in both aspects.

The story takes place almost entirely inside a priest's confessional office. Chapters alternate between a psychiatrist giving her confessions to the priest and the confessions of the very patients mentioned by the psychiatrist in her sessions. Every sentence that is written in the past tense is spoken aloud to the priest or by her, and every sentence that is written in the present tense is one of the priest's thoughts or an action she experiences.

I think you can see why Murder in "Utopia" may be a confusing experience the first time through. There are no quotation marks to set off dialogue; the tense of the writing changes based on whether the words are spoken or experienced; and, to top it all off, no names are mentioned for any of the characters - each is referred to only by his or her occupation or the pronouns her, she, etc.

But fear not, dear listeners. Continue on despite any confusion. Confusion is part of the experience. And by the end, I think you may realize that you've found more clarity than you thought possible in such a jumbled, messy "utopia".

©2015 Bryan Perkins (P)2016 Bryan Perkins

Great stories and great theme.

Honestly, the writing was good, because it kept me engaged, which I actually find to be a huge hurdle for me when it comes to audiobooks. I like the characters well enough, especially the fast food girl. She, and her story, were my favorite parts.

But I just didn't get it, at first. Each of the individual stories were good and entertaining in themselves, and I didn't catch that there was supposed to be an overarching theme.

All the characters being female wasn't obvious to me until the very end, but after finding out why, it really adds to the story and makes it that much better.

Ov, 9/10. Seriously a good book to listen to, other than sometimes when she says "She said, I said, she said." That was hard to follow while listening, but I'm sure is much easier to follow while reading. The 1 point off is because of the jumpiness of the book, I had a hard time trying to focus on who was speaking what when the characters all jumped around, none of them really announcing themselves, especially when only a few had distinct accents. Again, this probably would have been easier to follow while reading instead of listening.

What an excellent surprise.

I had never heard of this author and knew only that it was written in an unusual style and that the story takes place in a post-capitalist world where automation had pretty much freed everyone up from work, and that the author is a socialist. Compelling, but I didn't know what to expect. Getting used to the style took some effort, but it was well worth it and the unusual writing style is not gratuitous or indulgent. I suppose I can say that it brings you into the world of the book and what they are experiencing.

I had also not heard of the narrator, Julie Hoverson, but I came away from this book as a huge fan of hers too. This must have been a difficult book to narrate, but she was did a excellent variety of characters, whose lines I can still hear ringing in my head. "Welcome to Quick Burger how can I help you?" That scene was was an explosive combination of great writing and great acting/narrating.

I'm looking forward to more work from both of these people.

Wow

HOLY CRAP this was such a confusing, weird, and interesting short story. I’m not even sure how I can explain it without sounding like jsoiudriefjiweohfafjsdoifjsi. When I thought I knew what was going on that changed and I was left perplexed once again.

Bryan Perkins told a tale of a priest and psychiatrist telling each other about the stories that each of them heard from their clients. The first part of this story I was completely confusing and I really had no idea what was going on. By the last half I understood what was happening, but then the very end gave a twist and left me saying WTF.

Julie Hoverson was an excellent choice for this story. The pacing was fast and her voice was clear. She brought this story to life.

Everyone was living in Utopia and by the sounds of it they were not all that happy. People were committing murder all around. In the end this was an okay story. I think it might go on the list to reread…hoping that the second time around I might understand more.

This audiobook was given by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

Twisted and captivating

Love the presentation of psychiatrist and confessional as well as the links between the tales. Enjoyable with a few good twists. The future police reminded me a bit of demolition man cops but with guns. Will look for more by this author and narrator. I received this book from the author narrator or publisher for free via audiobookboom in exchange for an unbiased review.

Not Really Sure What It Meant but it was Clever

"Murder in Utopia" was a very interesting listen. Utopia is as imaginary as this novella was. It was hard to understand therefore leaving me entirely perplexed. I wasn't sure who was talking but as it said in the blurb, I may have to listen again. I actually want to because I want to understand. I know it ended where it began which was odd.

I think the author, Bryan Perkins accomplished his goal. I suspect this may have been slightly difficult to pull off. At any rate, it was entertaining to say the least.

The narration by Julie Hoverson was perfect for the content of the story. It was raw and overbearing but that was the role of the character(s). Overall, I think it was a good pairing of author/reader.

"I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com."